Congratulations to the Portland Housing Bureau team working on Block 49, the project to bring South Waterfront its first affordable homes.

The project took an important step forward in December when the Council formalized a development agreement with nonprofit REACH CDC, and earned praise from the Street Roots Editorial Board in their year-end roundup.

"The City of Portland," the Board writes, "led by Commissioner Nick Fish, turned an almost impossible and complex situation on the South Waterfront into a positive for people experiencing homelessness and poverty - especially veterans."

The building on Block 49 will house 209 affordable apartments and reserve 42 units for low-income veterans.

"It's clear that we don't have all the tools in the toolbox to end homelessness and poverty in our community," the Board writes, but the work of the Portland Housing Bureau and the Council to bring this and other projects to fruition means "a fighting chance."